December 9, 2016

St. Juan Diego

Mt 11: 16-19

“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

What Truly Matters

Shopping with young children can be a nightmare. I’m confident it’s no accident that the checkout line has troves of brightly colored trinkets positioned directly at eye level. “But Daddy, I need it…” is a line I’ve heard more than once. Leaving with some semblance of respectability is made only harder when the “it” becomes “them.”

It can be tough, no matter our age, to discover what truly matters amid all the distractions.

Ignatius, at the start of the Spiritual Exercises, encourages us to meet Jesus in prayer so that we might “rid ourselves of all inordinate attachments.” It is a challenge that the crowds in today’s Gospel, floundering in fickleness, might have found helpful too.

And so for us, with all the building joy and busyness of the season, we might ask ourselves what truly matters in this moment. In this case especially, the more is the merrier.

—Jordan Skarr works with the Jesuits at the Midwest province office in Chicago, assisting with programming for pastoral ministries.

Prayer

At the coming of the Most High our hearts shall be made clean,and we shall walk worthily in the way of the Lord.The Lord is coming and will not delay.

—from the Cistercian liturgy

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Welcome to Pray.ignatius.org

Ignatian spirituality reminds us that God pursues us in the routines of our home and work life, and in the hopes and fears of life's challenges. The founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, created the Spiritual Exercises to deepen our relationship with Christ and to move our contemplation into service. May this prayer site anchor your day and strengthen your resolve to remember what truly matters.

December 9, 2016

St. Juan Diego

Mt 11: 16-19

“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

What Truly Matters

Shopping with young children can be a nightmare. I’m confident it’s no accident that the checkout line has troves of brightly colored trinkets positioned directly at eye level. “But Daddy, I need it…” is a line I’ve heard more than once. Leaving with some semblance of respectability is made only harder when the “it” becomes “them.”

It can be tough, no matter our age, to discover what truly matters amid all the distractions.

Ignatius, at the start of the Spiritual Exercises, encourages us to meet Jesus in prayer so that we might “rid ourselves of all inordinate attachments.” It is a challenge that the crowds in today’s Gospel, floundering in fickleness, might have found helpful too.

And so for us, with all the building joy and busyness of the season, we might ask ourselves what truly matters in this moment. In this case especially, the more is the merrier.

—Jordan Skarr works with the Jesuits at the Midwest province office in Chicago, assisting with programming for pastoral ministries.

Prayer

At the coming of the Most High our hearts shall be made clean,and we shall walk worthily in the way of the Lord.The Lord is coming and will not delay.